Music for the Blind Girl
by OTHFiction
Summary: A shocking confession in the hills awakens something in Toph she long ago has tried to bury. But this time she's not hiding.


_I made a thing_

**—-**

Toph sighed as she rested on the grass, looking towards the sky. It wasn't watching the clouds, a feat with which Toph had no way to achieve, but the fact that her entire body was in contact with the earth that relaxed her so. With how much of her body that was touching the ground, she could sense for miles around her.

The rolling hills, the soft grass, the crunch of the dirt under her toes, and the feel of the surrounding area. These were some of the things she loved whenever she visited Ba Sing Se. But they weren't the main reason she came here. The owner of said title was sitting next to her, playing on his Tsungi horn

Normally when she visited they would go for a walk outside the inner walls of the city(thanks to a hole that Toph easily provided) through the rolling hills that neared the mountains. Since there was such a distance between them and the rest of the people, they had no worries about interruptions or bothers. Just them and their conversations.

Usually they enjoyed the silence, but this time Iroh asked if he could bring his horn along. She didn't mind, though they did get some odd looks as they walked through the city.

"I don't think I've ever heard you play that thing before." Toph wondered out loud, as she laid onto her back in the grass.

"Well we'll have to remedy that situation." Iroh laughed. And remedy it he did.

The sound was haunting, seemingly seeping into her bones with every note. The melody moved with the wind as it flowed over the rolling hills, spreading out into the surrounding land till it slowly died. And as it hit the mountains, they returned a tone of their own, in mirror of the original. It was as if nature itself approved, singing in harmony with the horn of the Dragon of the West. Toph smiled as the song ended.

"Wow, that was awesome." Toph complimented, leaning up on her hands.

"I'm glad you liked it" Iroh smiled.

Toph sighed again as she sensed around. "This is my favorite part about coming here."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, just hanging out with you. Not having to worry about anyone trying to protect me, or try to fight me. Don't get me wrong, I love a good fight. But sometimes you just want to relax and not think about that stuff."

"A truly happy person can enjoy the scenery on a detour." Iroh spoke, eyes closed.

"Exactly." Toph exclaimed, before getting a confused look on her face. "Wait, what?"

Iroh chuckled. "It means, while you may being doing what you love, if you don't enjoys breaks every now and then, you'll never be truly happy."

"Oh. Well in that case, I stand by my statement." Toph smiled at him, or at least in his general direction. "How do you know all these quotes anyway. Do you make 'em up?"

"With age comes wisdom. And I have a lot of wisdom." Toph detected the underlying statement.

"You aren't that old."

"Compared to an earthbender, no I'm not. But compared to a firebender…." He sighed, not finishing his sentence.

"Well I like how old you are."

"Oh?" Iroh chuckled. "And why's that?"

"Well first of all, you know a ton of stories, so talking to you is never boring. You also have this sorta "joyful grandpa" look about you, and everyone likes a joyful grandpa."

""Joyful grandpa"?" Iroh laughed. "Is that supposed to make me feel better."

"You know what I mean." Toph dismissed, falling back into the grass. "Anyway, my point is age isn't always bad. "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.""

Iroh smiled at Toph in shock. "Where did you learn that?"

"Read it in a book." She could sense his raised eyebrow. "Or I had Katara read it to me."

"Now why would you do that?"

"I wanted to know some quotes of my own so we could talk about them." She shrugged.

"I'm flattered." He laughed.

"You better be, I had to sit through reading with Katara," Toph exclaimed with a shudder. "Who insisted on explaining EVERY quote in the book, even though I kept telling her I didn't need to know what they mean because you could just explain it to me."

"It's better to know something then to wait for someone that does."

"Yeah, but I like it when you explain things, you always get this sorta monk aura around you." Toph said, fingers wiggling in air.

Iroh laughs again. Toph laughed along with him. Suddenly they were like a couple of little kids giggling in the grass.

"Iroh?" Toph finally asked as they calmed down

"Yes?" Iroh returned.

"Why are you still single?" The question shocked both of them. But it had been bugging her for a while. How can a guy as awesome as Iroh not have the women of Ba Sing Se going crazy?

"I could ask you the same thing." Iroh chuckled.

"No seriously. I mean a guy like you Iroh, should have women lining up to take you off the market."

"Well I did try once, but she said she only saw me as the "nice old man at the tea shop.""

"What?!" Toph jumped up. "Who was she? Let me talk to her!" Toph drove the point by rolling up her sleeve. Just the thought that Iroh would never find someone again made her both sad and angry. Iroh's amazing, he should have riots starting in the street just to talk to him. Were the women in Ba Sing Se that stuck up that they could only see Iroh as an old man. The thought made her so mad she wanted to march right back into town and beat everyone of those uptight prunes till they came to their senses.

"It's quite alright Toph, you can't force love. Please sit down." He patted the ground next to him. Begrudgingly she complied. "Listen, when she said no, I wasn't as sad as I'd thought I would be. It made me realize that I didn't actually want to find someone again, I was perfectly fine with my Tea shop and the friendship of you and your friends."

"But you could have more. Don't you **ever** wanna find someone again?" Toph asked, concerned.

"In my age, I don't think there's anyone left."

"You're only 68"

"That's exactly my point, by now women my age are already married. And since most of the people here are earthbenders, very few of them are widows. And even if they are single, most women my age are going for younger men."

"Why don't you go for someone younger?"

Iroh barked a laugh sadly. "I doubt anyone younger will go for a fat old man like me."

"You aren't so fat. Not since you broke out of jail." Toph pouted, poking him in the stomach. Her finger was met with flab before hitting his abs.

Iroh couldn't help but laugh at the image of a pouting Toph poking his belly. "Even so, it's hard to see past peoples faults when you don't know them personally."

"You age isn't a fault!" Toph groaned. "It's one of the many good things about you"

"Oh, and what are the others?"

"1, You're funny" Toph began, finger counting off on her hand. "2,You're smart, 3, You're caring, and 4, You're charming. 5 things, and that's just off the top of my head, give me a minute to think of some more."

"That won't be necessary, but thank you Toph."

"So will you think about it? Think about getting back out there?"

"Maybe, but first let me ask you something."

"Shoot." Toph offered.

"Why are you still single Toph?" Iroh asked, to Toph's shock.

"Wha—," Toph rubbed the back of her neck. "I, I do better on my own. That's all."

"If it can work for you, why can't it work for me?" Iroh suggested, face becoming serious.

"It's different." Toph moved onto her knees.

"How?"

"Because people will actually want you." Toph yelled. They stared at each other in shock. Toph crossed her arms and turned away, face turning beat red. And while Iroh would have enjoyed the rare image of a blushing Toph , her outburst had him concerned.

"Toph, what do you mean?" Iroh questioned, care lined in his voice.

"I meant what I said." Toph grumbled.

"No I heard what you said, I want to know what lead you to believe this."

"Well, no one's ever told me differently." Iroh looked at Toph and nearly cried in objection. In the 4 years since the war Toph had matured the most of the group. While her 14 years old self was loud, mouthy, and opinionated, her 18 year old self had become a loud, mouthy, opinionated, and _beautiful _young women. This was made even more obvious from the way she caught men's lustful eyes, and Iroh jealous leers, as they walked through the streets.

But Iroh wasn't made of stone. He wasn't immune to her beauties. He had to constantly remind himself of her age to try to keep his thoughts from going to those more heated places when he was with her. Though he found himself thinking of what their life could be like many times while alone brewing tea. She seemed to him a perfect women, if maybe a little more brash, but that just added to her charm. He wished he was younger, but he tried to be satisfied with being just her friend, there to offer support when needed and nothing else.

Iroh stood and sat down right in front of Toph, taking her hand in his. "Then allow me to be the first. Toph, you are one of the most** beautiful** young woman I have had the honor of meeting. You are like a divine fire. Fierce and powerful, yet eloquent and enticing. To say that you are not beautiful is like saying that fire isn't hot, that water isn't wet, that the ground isn't hard, and that the air isn't free. It's not just skin deep. You are determined, persistent, and never afraid to speak you mind. You are magnificent, and I'm sorry I've never told you before, but trust me when I say that I will be telling you this for many times to come."

Toph gaped at Iroh, mouth suddenly dry. She had been called beautiful before, mainly by drunk people she met on the road, but she never believed before now. It sounded so real, so heartfelt coming from Iroh. And even though she couldn't see him, she could feel the emotions radiating from him. The care, the affection, the devotion, it shocked her to have someone have these feelings towards her. And in response her body moved on it's own , and leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his.

Iroh stiffened, as Toph wrapped her arms around him. The kiss awakened something that had been laying long dormant inside her. Feelings that Toph had tried for years to keep down, that had suddenly reeled back up strong as ever. And Toph suddenly knew why she was so upset when Iroh said no one wanted him.

Because she wanted him.

Pulling back she sat back in her spot and just stared at the stunned older man in front of her. Iroh struggled to recover from the shock of it all, but was having a hard time at it.

"T-Toph, wha- why- I don't-" Iroh struggled to word his thoughts, but the kiss had sent his brain into a tail spin. He wanted to tell her this was wrong, he was much to old for her. This was just a spontaneous idea of hers that she hadn't thought through thoroughly.

Toph smiled nervously. "Well, I was thinking, if you really think all that stuff about me, and I think you're awesome, why don't we just get together?"

"But, Toph I'm so much older then you." Iroh attempted to explain.

"So? I already told you that I don't care about age anyway. And I also don't care about what other people would say about us." Toph waved her hands in the air, as if swatting the excuses away.

"Shouldn't you be with someone your own age, or closer? Someone you can connect with better?" Iroh tried to believe his own words, but even he knew that was a hollow point.

"Iroh, please. Who could I possibly connect with better then you? Who do I talk to more then you?" Iroh couldn't answer and he knew she was right.

"But-"

"Iroh, stop." Toph interrupted. "Stop making up excuses as to why we can't be together. It makes it seem like you want to be with me but you're being stopped by something. Please, "Toph pleaded, which was a rare action for her. " just tell me now, do you want to be with me? If not, then I won't hold it against you. But if you do," She gently placed her hand on his cheek. "Can't we at least try?"

Iroh leaned into the touch and placed his hand on hers. "Toph, I do. You have no idea how much I do." Iroh sighed. "But I want to make sure that you want this fully, and this isn't just a spur of the moment thing."

"Does this convince you?" Placing her other hand on his other cheek, she leaned forward and placed her lips back onto his. This time though Iroh returned the kiss, arms wrapping around her and pulling her closer.

Pulling back, she rested her forehead against his.

"Do you believe me now?" Toph asked.

"Yes I do. _You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back."_ Iroh quoted.

"_Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my_ control." Toph quoted in return.

Iroh smiled. "How many quotes do you know?"

"Not many, but I'm ready to learn." She smiled in return. "But not today, it's getting late, you should probably get back to the tea shop." Toph stood and puled Iroh up with her. Grabbing his tsungi horn as they walked past, Iroh took her hand, and they walked back towards the city walls. And in the city Toph stuck her tongue out at all the men and stuck up women they passed.


End file.
